Today, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters announced the indictment of Ernest Cephas (DOB 8-25-80) for 4 counts of Felonious Assault (Felony 2) and 1 count of Having a Weapon Under Disability (Felony 3). If convicted of all charges, he could face 24 years in prison.

Cephas is charged with shooting Jon’Quezz Newbill (age 2) and Timothy Reed on July 13th on Whetsel Avenue in Madisonville.

Both Newbill and Reed were transported from the scene to area hospitals where they remain hospitalized to date.

Cephas was arrested on July 14th in Northside.

Prosecutor Deters commented, “Violence in our community is unacceptable and especially so when an innocent 2-year-old is shot in the head.

The Cincinnati Police Department is doing an excellent job of developing new strategies to prevent violent crimes.They are also acting quickly to arrest that small segment of our population who engage in violent crime.In this case, a violent person was arrested within hours and taken off our streets.

This incident happened in front of a lot of people.We encourage anyone who witnessed the shooting to call the Cincinnati Police Department or CrimeStoppers with information that may be helpful in prosecuting this case.